Repotting House plants.

Rubypop

Advice please...when reporting house plants what type of 'soil' should I use?
I realise all plants are different but what do you find works best.  On watering them today I  can see all different kinds of 'soil' some compost,some coco coir mix and what looks like normal soil....
Any advice will be greatly received!

philippasmith2

You can use top soil, MPC, grit, home made compost, leaf mould etc.  You really have to know precisely what sort of mixture each specific plant requires. It should be simple enough to check requirements of each plant, where they are native to, whether they like damp or dry or somewhere in between and make up your "soil" mixture accordingly.

Balgay.Hill

I find it's mostly all about drainage, and how each plant responds to water at its roots.
For a general type house plant compost, you can't go wrong with a John Innes 2 or 3 mixed with Perlite at 2 to 1 JI and Perlite.

Rubypop

Thanks Balgay Hill....I'm off to do some homework!!!  

Rubypop

Thanks Philippa..off to do some homework !!!!

Plantminded

Most garden centres sell ready mixed house plant composts, usually in different types such as a general house plant compost, and ones for cacti and succulents, orchids, citrus and bonsai.  It's more economical to mix your own if you have many plants to repot and you know your required mixes but I've found that for the odd repotting that I do, the peat free mixes by Westland are better than any other I've used.

philippasmith2

Rubypop said:

Thanks Philippa..off to do some homework !!!!

At least more interesting than Housework 

Rubypop

Hi plantminded, thanks for the info, going to do some homework! i.e who likes what and who doesn't!! They all look happy at the moment, just wanted a bit more info / idea /suggestions before I take the plunge!! 

LunarSea

Plantminded said:

Most garden centres sell ready mixed house plant composts, usually in different types such as a general house plant compost, and ones for cacti and succulents, orchids, citrus and bonsai.  It's more economical to mix your own if you have many plants to repot and you know your required mixes but I've found that for the odd repotting that I do, the peat free mixes by Westland are better than any other I've used.

I agree entirely. I've found that mixing your own often gives rise to the problem of fungus gnats in the house (see thread entitled "Seedling Flies"). The Westland Houseplant compost seems to be free of them.

Balgay.Hill

The only time i've had problems with fungus gnats is when i used to buy ready made composts. Since mixing my own from dry components i've been pretty much gnat clear.

Rubypop

Hi LunarSea... Looks like Westland the way to go. Thanks